The secret of the Zune

November 13, 2006

Coming Zune. Welcome to the social. Music the way it wants to be. That's all mysterious advertisements have revealed about the Zune portable media player, Microsoft's answer to Apple's iPod. And don't expect an array of exhaustive reviews from the media before next Tuesday's highly anticipated launch. The behemoth corporation responsible for everything from Windows to Xbox has limited journalists' access to Zune, only granting most reviewers an hour-and-a-half-long demonstration overseen by company employees. In the past, Microsoft has allowed the press to critique their products before they landed on store shelves. With Zune, that's changed. Gadget gurus will agree: While a brief visit can assist a reviewer in becoming acquainted with a new device's basic features, a thorough examination isn't possible without hours to unobtrusively tinker. PC Magazine reviews editor Lance Ulanoff, who's been with the computing publication for 11 years, believes Microsoft's motive is subversive. "Having done this for a very long time, I will say that Microsoft is doing things different with the Zune," he says. "Their approach has been unusual. The way they communicate and their intentions have been surprising and sometimes confusing. It seems as if they're going out of their way to try and do things in an edgier, more uncharacteristic and unpredictable way." Why? Because Ulanoff believes that Microsoft is directly targeting iPod users who are "young, hip technologically savvy people who don't like to be marketed in the traditional way." That means sponsoring the indie CMJ Music Marathon festival, airing flashy nonnarrative commercials and producing a Web site featuring animations that are more about the product's brand than about what's under the hood. It seems to be working. Blogs such as Zunescene, Zune Groove, Zunerama, ZuneMax and Microsoft's own Zune Insider have been salivating over the trickle of "iPod killer" info Microsoft has released since the Zune announcement in September. Matt Jubelirer, Zune product manager for Microsoft, acknowledges the word Zune doesn't mean anything and says the absence of the name Microsoft in the Zune advertising campaign and on the player itself is completely intentional. "We wanted a blank palette," he told asap during a Zune demonstration. A nonconformist endeavor from a ubiquitous corporation? Usually, PC Magazine signs nondisclosure agreements with technology manufacturers like Microsoft to receive products weeks in advance for thorough reviews that'll be published near the launch date, Ulanoff says. Apple, however, is an anomaly in that it rarely gives advance notice or review copies of products. With Zune, Ulanoff says Microsoft is acting more like Apple. "They've had a series of events here in New York and are planning some on the West Coast where they're letting the media touch and use the device," says Ulanoff. "They still haven't handed out review units, which for all of us in this industry is incredibly frustrating." According to Microsoft spokeswoman Kyrsa Dixon, only four national publications will receive review units before the Nov. 14 launch because there aren't enough to go around. Ulanoff suspected PC Magazine would be one of those publications, but Microsoft had not confirmed that with him. When asap originally requested a Zune review unit a month ago, Microsoft said such units wouldn't be handed out until "right at launch" and there'd be a better idea of availability closer to that time. At press time, Microsoft said asap will receive a review unit the day before launch. Guess an extensive "iPod killer" critique will have to come later rather than Zuner. ___ Read what The Slug, asap's pop culture blog, thought about the Zune demo. ___ asap business reporter Stephanie Hoo contributed to this report. ___ Derrik J. Lang is an asap reporter in New York.